St John’s Antigua, September 29, 2026. The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for Aug
2026
Year-on-Year Analysis
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 5.5% for the twelve months ending August 2026. Non-food categories drove the overall increase. The largest
increase was particularly in electricity prices (+42.9%). The All Items Less Food and Energy Index rose 5.4% over the year, up from 4.1% over the
twelve months ending July 2026. The Energy Index increased 20.6% for the twelve months ending August 2026.
The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index remained unchanged at 0.0%. The Food Index increased slightly (+0.2%) over the twelve months
ending August 2026. This was due to mixed results with five categories declining and four increasing. The small increase in the Food Index was
largely attributed to increases in the Indexes for Fish and Seafood (+9.8%), Milk, Cheese and Eggs (+5.3%), and Bread and Cereals (+3.4%). Contrary to the increase, the index was negatively impacted by decreases in the indexes for Oils and Fats (-5.8%), Meats and Meat Products (-4.9%), and Vegetables (-3.8%), resulting in a low food inflation rate.
The All-Items Less Food and Energy index increased by 5.4%. Notable increases over the one year included Communication (+23.1%), Education
(+13.3%), Restaurants and Hotels (+6.5%), and Clothing and Footwear (+5.7%), while Miscellaneous Goods and Services (-5.2%) and Recreation and
Culture (-3.4%) experienced a decline.
Month-to-Month Price Changes
The monthly Consumer Price Index increased 0.8% in August 2026. The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages index marginally rose 0.1% over the
month of July 2026.
The Food index increased by 0.3% in August following negative inflation of (-0.8%) in July. The index for Fish and Seafood increased by 12.1%, with
significant movement in the index for Fresh Chilled or Frozen Fish and Seafood. The index for Fruit recorded its largest one-month increase of 4.5%
since May 2026 increase of 6.7%. The index for Milk, Cheese and Eggs rose 3.2%, with increases in the indexes for Preserved Milk and Other Milk
Products/Powder/Evaporated/Condensed Milk (+4.3%) and Egg-based Products (+2.7%).
The index for Non-Alcoholic Beverages declined 1.5%, primarily due to decreases in the indexes for Coffee, Tea and Cocoa (-10.1%) and Soft Drinks
and Concentrates (-9.1%).
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 1.0% in August 2026. The index for Transport Services recorded an increase of 13.2%, mainly
because Passenger Transport by Air Index increased by 15.8%. The index for Actual Rentals for Housing increased by 1.0.%.
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Methodology
What is the consumer price index (CPI) measuring and how is it done?
The All Items Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the main measure of what is commonly called inflation, or headline inflation. It measures the change in
prices, on average, from month to month, and from year to year of the goods and services bought by most households.
Prices are collected monthly and quarterly from supermarkets and other suppliers of goods and services. The pattern of household expenditure on these goods and services is derived from a regular household budget (or expenditure) survey (HBS). The prices and spending patterns (known as weights) are then combined to calculate the price indices for groups of goods and services and for the All Items index. These indices are based on expenditure patterns in 2006.
The All Items (or overall) index, with all of its twelve (12) component indices, is published each month.
For a detailed account of the methodology used in calculating the CPI, please call the National Bureau of Statistics.